Two common sources of financing, credit-card debt and home-equity credit, have become less useful; months of poor economic conditions have eroded credit-worthiness, while the housing bust has left a quarter of mortgage borrowers with negative equity.
And, corporate tax cuts would reduce revenue, hurting state and local budgets, which erodes credit quality.
Americans are increasingly finding themselves with few options as unemployment levels remain high for record lengths, leading individuals to exhaust their jobless benefits, all the while personal wealth has eroded and credit is scarce.
But in Europe, where the euro zone crisis and chronic economic woes may soon erode the credit scores of big countries like France, Italy and Spain, investors are far more wary.
Fortis stock fell 20.4% in Brussels on Friday on investors' concern that its capital base had been irreparably eroded by the credit meltdown.
The study concludes that traditional limits on who could join a credit union have eroded over the years, bringing "credit unions into more direct competition with other depository institutions, such as banks".
But its failure, as well as the unenthusiastic reception that greeted Russell's subsequent biopic of Valentino eroded much of the credit he had built up.
To make matters worse for low-income people, Walker has reduced earned-income tax credits and eroded the government safety net.
That credit has been eroded.
Most for-profit corporate hospitals' credit quality have eroded, and hope for a cure anytime soon is not looking good.
Many European lenders like ING have been forced to turn to state help as write-downs on credit-related assets eroded their capital position.
